Equity and energy use presents a challenge for communities | Sustainable Tallahassee

The City of Tallahassee’s Clean Energy Resolution (19-R-04) sets forth an aggressive goal to reinvent Tallahassee’s energy future.

The passage of the resolution makes Tallahassee one of 180+ cities across the U.S. and one of only 12 cities in Florida to set the ambitious and important goal of moving our community to 100 percent net clean, renewable energy by 2050.

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While there are many aspects of this journey to consider, a key element within the city’s plan, which is currently in development, is maintaining the affordability of energy services for all residents.

The annual Municipal Cost Comparison for Fiscal Year 2022, which compared City of Tallahassee electric rates against 11 comparable Florida cities, showed that Tallahassee is currently the most affordable for electric ratepayers, beating municipal and investor-owned utilities.

Additionally, the city has a robust demand-side management (DMS) program offering energy use education, free home and business energy audits, and incentives designed to help customers decrease consumption and utility costs.

Through its Energy Smart PLUS program, the city has issued more than $30 million in incentive payments (via rebates, grants, and loans) since 2008. This has generated over 500,000 megawatt hours (MWh) in customer energy savings and over $55 million in savings on customer utility bills.

Energy costs distributed unevenly

DSM efforts like these benefit the whole community by delaying the need to add generation capacity while reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. Yet achieving both community-wide clean energy and social equity goals presents an ongoing challenge.

The buzzword “energy burden” refers to that portion of a customer’s household income that goes toward paying their utility bill. National guidelines suggest affordable household energy costs should be no more than six percent of a household’s total annual income.

Using the latest U.S. Census data for household income and the city’s utility data for household energy consumption, the average energy costs of Tallahassee residents is around three percent annually. We know, however, that focusing on the average value for the community can inadvertently mask the financial reality for some households.

To put the issue in perspective, a recent academic study in which the city teamed up with researchers from Florida State University and Princeton University sought to measure social equity in household energy use and participation in energy efficiency programs.

The study examined 2015-2016 data from two cities: Tallahassee and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lower income, higher energy costs

The findings supported what we generally knew to be true — that when evaluating annual energy use, homes in the lowest income neighborhoods on average used 25-60 percent more energy per square foot compared to the highest income neighborhoods.

Factors contributing to these results include age of housing stock, family size, and surrounding tree canopy, among others.

The city has been actively working to lessen this disparity for years.

In 2010, it launched REACH, which targeted income-based neighborhoods with door-to-door service to provide in-home energy assessments, energy-efficiency measures, hands-on education, and energy and water saving items (faucet aerators, new air filters, etc.) — all free to the customer. From 2010-2019, REACH services more than 9,400 homes.

Expanding its efforts again to promote equitable energy access, the city recently began partnering with local stakeholders and neighborhood leaders to deepen our understanding about how to reduce barriers to solar in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods.

Pathway for solar policy

The project aims to provide a pathway to install solar at a neighborhood scale that can be replicated.

This effort is spearheaded by ReThink Energy Florida, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Findings from the effort will help shape future policy and program recommendations that advance solar and other clean energy efforts consistent with the city’s broader Clean Energy Resolution.

Citizen involvement in the development of the clean energy planning process is vital.

The city wants to ensure that the most vulnerable residents in our community share in the benefits of the clean energy transition.

This involves including low-income and historically marginalized residents in the decision-making process and partnering with community-based organizations to adopt policies that keep energy cost affordable for low-income customers.

Participating in the clean energy planning process is open to everyone in our community. The city recently completed a second round of community conversations and stakeholder charettes as well as participation in neighborhood events such as the Greater Bond Engagement Day at the Southside Farmers Market.

Additional opportunities to provide input will be available later this year. To learn more and get involved in the planning process, visit Talgov.com/CleanEnergyPlan or email your comments/questions to [email protected].

Michael Ohlsen is Manager of the Clean Energy & Resource Planning group within the City of Tallahassee’s Electric & Gas Utility and can be reached at [email protected]. This is a “Greening Our Community” article, an initiative of Sustainable Tallahassee. Learn more at www.SustainableTallahassee.org.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee's energy disparity presents a challenge for Tallahassee